Cricket Bulletin

There are a number of things I’d like to inform you/remind you of for the coming weeks.

Performance

Very good start to the season for the 1’s and 2’s. Big well done to Jake Foley buy followers on instagram and Jack Hebron (and the rest of the 1’s) who have done a fantastic job in a short period of time. Atmosphere amongst both teams seems excellent and there is a healthy competition for places which we haven’t seen for many seasons. Long may this continue. Lets please maintain the momentum and enthusiasm, keep turning up to training and keep encouraging and supporting the other players at the club. Special mention this week to the newcomers Henry Hebron, Billy Ince, Feroze Ahmed and Alex Berry who have all made an excellent start to their time at Colchester. I’m going to continue to write match reports – which will be published on social media and the website – so please read/criticise/share etc.

Etiquette

No real complaints here but a polite reminder that it is our responsibility as players to care for the pavilion, the ground and the reputation of the club. This means the following; ensuring the changing rooms are left clean and tidy (whether home or away), looking after the training kit and putting away tidily and looking after and thanking our scorers, umpires, groundsman and tea lady. These are very easy things to get right and it behoves us to be professional and considerate in these matters.

Availability

The 1st and 2nd XI’s are as strong as they have been for many years. Third XI is another matter. This is down to lack of availability amongst our junior ranks coupled with a number of departures from the club. We had to concede our fixture this weekend, this resulted in a points fine to the 2nd’s. If we concede two further fixtures the team will be kicked out of the league. Please please please make yourselves available if possible. Next week’s game is at Castle Park and will be the first time we have had two senior teams (2’s and 3’s) playing there simultaneously, Colin Perkins will be in attendance to direct people as there may be some confusion the first time.

Kit

Well done to the 1st XI, when I turned up on Saturday morning you all looked smart and professional. The rest of us still have a little way to go. I realise the training/playing kit can be quite costly but it makes a really good impression if we are all turned out the same.

Players Supper

This is an informal event. It will take place in the pavilion at 8pm on Saturday 20th May (next week). Cost is £10 and includes a chilli and dessert. These events are crucial if we are to create a good spirit at the club. Again please come along! All players are welcome regardless of age or gender. This includes umpires and scorers!!!

Junior Coaching – All Stars

As I mentioned in the pre-season letter we will be asking senior players to volunteer an hour on a Sunday morning to assist with the new All Starts initiative. Sunday 21st May is the first week (with a further 7 weeks to follow) the players scheduled to attend are myself, Darren Eckford and Kieran Dale. The rota for the remaining weeks is below, if you have a problem with the date you have been put down for please let me know and I will swap you or assign you another of the many tasks that need doing.

Date

Coach 1

Coach 2

Coach 3

Sunday 21st May

Iain McQueen

Darren Eckford

Kieran Dale

Sunday 28th May

Greg Stephens

Jack Hebron

Omar Ahmed

Sunday 4th June

Billy Ince

Henry Hebron

Tash Hussein

Sunday 11th June

Julian Russell

Ollie Lovejoy

Raj Anandraj

Sunday 18th June

Mark Gaisford

Greg De Silva

Keir Young

Sunday 25th June

Nic Patel

Feroze Ahmed

Tom Savage and Adam Smith

Sunday 2nd July

Jake Foley

Jack Crace

Casper Everett

Sunday 9th July

Andrew Kennedy

Adnan Hashmi

Nick Gibbs

Summer Ball

The Summer Ball is always a really good event, however it is down to us as players to both promote and attend the event. This year the ball will take place on Saturday 22nd July. More information will be forthcoming from Spesh, however we should aim to get 150 attendees. Tables are for 10 people so please start to think of who to invite, if you can get a table filled yourself that would be superb. Family members, friends and colleagues are all very welcome. Greg DeSilva and I will be chasing people up about this in the coming weeks.